Judge bars ICE from warrantless arrests in Oregon without proper flight risk finding

A federal judge on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction barring federal immigration officers from making warrantless arrests without first determining that a person represents a risk of escaping or fleeing.

U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai made the ruling from the bench at the end of a day-long hearing in federal court in Portland. With this order, Oregon joins Washington, D.C., and Colorado in restricting the practice.

“There is ample evidence that establishes there’s a pattern and practice of executing warrantless arrests without the legal findings that are required by law,” the judge said. “Likelihood of escape considerations are not being made on a far-reaching scale across the populations in our community who are subject to immigration law,” he added.

He noted clear evidence of potential future harm, citing the overwhelming material documenting “broad-reaching dragnet, sweeping approaches” that will continue to force people who would otherwise not be targets to be “caught up again and again” by federal immigration officers.

“The harm is great, significant and severe, pervasive for both individuals, their families, their communities,” the judge said. Based on his review of videos showing multiple U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stops, Kasubhai described the manner of the arrests as “violent and brutal.”

Both plaintiffs in the case, represented by Innovation Law Lab lawyers, were stopped while going about daily activities and were not intended targets of federal officers, the judge noted.

“There can be an injury no more irreparable than the manner in which these plaintiffs have been stopped, detained, thrown to the ground and handcuffed,” he said. “It’s violent and brutal, what I’ve seen in the stops. The drawing of firearms, the civil administration process, is excessive and defies human decency.”

Judge Kasubhai expressed confidence that his injunction would not impede immigration enforcement but rather improve it. He ordered federal immigration officers to document in narrative form all warrantless arrests made in Oregon, including what officers relied upon to support their finding that someone was likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained.

Officers must record the date or time of the arrest, as well as the person’s community, family ties, and any jobs held. The judge stated that how warrantless immigration arrests have been conducted in the state “insults the due process rights” afforded by the U.S. Constitution.

“Due process calls for those who have great power to exercise great restraint. That is the bedrock of a Democratic Republic founded on this great Constitution,” Kasubhai said. “I think we’re losing that.”

### Plaintiffs’ Arguments

Attorney Stephen Manning, executive director of Innovation Law Lab, sought the injunction, urging the judge to bar federal immigration officers’ practice of “arrest first, justify later.”

He argued that immigrants in some of the largest cities and counties in Oregon “are living under a state of emergency,” as ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers have been in the state’s “streets, neighborhoods and schools” arresting people without warrants and sweeping them out of state.

“Going to work, coming home from work, driving on the highway, buying bread or hanging out with your family at home. Those are not existential threats for most of us,” Manning said, “but they are for immigrants and people perceived as immigrants. It is an upside-down world.”

He asked the court to curb federal officers’ arbitrary arrests to protect thousands of Oregonians vulnerable to becoming ICE targets or their so-called “collaterals” who are swept up during such enforcement stops labeled “Operation Black Rose” since October.

### Government Response

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Ratcliffe urged the judge not to issue the “drastic step” of an injunction. He pointed to a recent memorandum dated January 28 from acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons, setting out requirements and guidance for all ICE officers on conducting warrantless immigration arrests.

Ratcliffe argued that the memo would prevent any future harm by making clear to federal immigration officers that they must follow the law.

### Plaintiff Stories

The lead plaintiff in the case, a 45-year-old woman identified only as MJMA, was riding in the back seat of a van stopped in Woodburn while heading to work on October 30. She was among five passengers detained.

At the Portland ICE office, an ICE supervisor who previously worked there testified that he created and signed a warrant for MJMA’s arrest after she arrived, even though he knew officers had already arrested her without one. She was kept overnight in a detention center in Tacoma and released the following day.

Victor Manuel Cruz Gomez, a 57-year-old man from Mexico who has lived in Oregon for 25 years, broke down in tears on the witness stand as he described being pulled over by immigration enforcement officers about three miles from his Hillsboro home on October 14.

The married father of three and grandfather of four was held by ICE in Tacoma for three weeks despite having a valid work permit and notification of acceptance for a U visa, granted to victims of crimes who assist in prosecution.

During his stop, he showed officers his driver’s license and work permit. They claimed his permit wasn’t valid and told him, “You’re still an illegal,” Cruz Gomez recalled, wiping tears from his eyes.

### Class-Action Status Granted

Judge Kasubhai also granted class-action status to the lawsuit filed by Cruz Gomez and MJMA, allowing them to represent all Oregonians at risk of warrantless immigration arrests without the legally required assessment that the individual poses a risk of fleeing.

When asked how many instances of such arrests he would need to conclude a “practice or policy” of ignoring the law, Manning said two cases are sufficient—the cases of MJMA and Cruz Gomez. Government lawyers contended the judge would need significantly more evidence.

### Evidence Presented

Lawyers for Innovation Law Lab presented three videos during the hearing:

– An early morning November 5 immigration stop and handcuffing of a Cottage Grove woman with lawful permanent resident status who works as a Spanish interpreter for local police.
– Armed ICE officers bursting into a Portland apartment without a warrant on October 15 and arresting two men who were not the intended targets.
– An immigration lawyer’s video confrontation with ICE officers when she demanded they leave an apartment complex parking lot while an officer asserted the ability to “make warrantless arrests.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariana N. Garousi highlighted Lyons’ memo, which states that the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes warrantless arrests if an officer has “reason to believe” that someone is unlawfully in the U.S. “and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest.”

Garousi argued that the memo “cuts against” the plaintiffs’ need for an injunction, as it “provides the exact remedy they’re looking for” by offering guidance on arrests and reflects the agency’s policy.

She described the memo as an “reaffirmation” of ICE directives and not something new, adding to the argument that there is no policy or practice of unlawful arrests.

Lyons’ memo lists factors officers should consider to determine if someone is likely to escape, including behavior before and after encounters, refusal to follow lawful commands, attempts to evade officers, the person’s age and health, possession of fraudulent work permits or identity documents, and compliance with legal immigration registration requirements.

It further instructs that warrantless arrests, if necessary, be effectuated in a manner consistent with ICE policy and the law, including conducting an analysis of likelihood of escape before the arrest and proper documentation afterward.

Judge Kasubhai, however, expressed skepticism about the memo’s real-world application.

“What the Lyons memo describes is not what has occurred on the street,” he said.

—

### Personal Accounts from the Hearing

**Victor Manuel Cruz Gomez** recounted his October 14 stop and detention in Tacoma. While detained, he prayed nightly with others and was offered $1,000 to voluntarily self-deport.

“I was very, very anxious and terrified,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

He said the three officers who arrested him showed a photo of another man on a cellphone, a person “completely different than me.” He never was asked about his immigration status, which would have revealed his deferred action status for a U visa recipient.

Cruz Gomez described harsh detention conditions, including being placed in a freezing concrete cell, making it impossible to sleep. He has lived in the U.S. since 1990, co-owns a home in Hillsboro with his wife, and operates a construction business.

His family posted a $3,000 bond for his release. He said his arrest shattered his family’s sense of security. “We went three weeks without even opening the door to the house because of the fear we were feeling,” he said. “I suffer from a lot of anxiety whenever I see any officer.”

—

### Incident Involving Juana Avila

Juana Avila’s daughter, Emely Avila, testified about the November 5 ICE stop of her mother in Cottage Grove at about 6 a.m. Emely filmed the stop and realized her mother was being detained.

“Oh my [expletive] God, that’s my Mom!” Emely exclaimed on video. “What are you doing? She has a green card. You don’t need to tackle her! There’s no reason to f— do this! You guys are [expletive] crazy!”

Juana Avila wrote in a declaration that masked officers arrested her after she pulled over when noticing flashing lights behind her. Despite asking for paperwork and reasons for her arrest, she was shown nothing.

“One tried to open my car doors. Another reached through my open window, unlocked my door and dragged me out of the car,” she said. She was pushed to the ground with officers’ knees on her back. “They were shouting at me. I begged them not to hurt me.”

She told them her children were asleep at home and begged for release. The officers handcuffed her and searched her wallet, finding her driver’s license and lawful permanent residency card.

“I felt the most severe form of panic I have ever experienced,” she wrote. “Every time I leave the house, I leave with fear.”

—

### Immigration Lawyer’s Video Confrontation

A video from an immigration lawyer showed her confronting ICE officers in green ballistic vests at Riverwood Heights Apartments in Tigard, where officers had knocked on the doors of her clients with pending asylum applications.

“Get the f–k out of this apartment,” she yelled on the video. An ICE officer told her to back up and stand at arm’s length away, while another said, “cops make warrantless arrests.”

She explained she received calls from clients that ICE had threatened to arrest them, prompting her to record the encounter and question the officers’ actions.

—

This ruling and the accounts shared during the hearing highlight ongoing concerns about federal immigration enforcement practices and their impact on individuals and communities in Oregon. The court’s injunction aims to ensure compliance with due process protections and provide greater accountability for warrantless immigration arrests.
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/02/judge-bars-ice-from-warrantless-arrests-in-oregon-without-proper-flight-risk-finding.html

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